


The Way It Should Be

by cakedinner



Category: Inanimate Insanity (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, ill add tags as it goes along as there will be a few other characters, its just really gay okay!!, knickle, knickle real
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-06 04:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15186893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakedinner/pseuds/cakedinner
Summary: Knife and Pickle fall in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fanfic ever so if anything is weird I am so freaking sowwy.

Only able to be seen by the gleam of moonlight on his blade, Knife sat on a hill, looking at the stars. He liked to be far away from the other contestants during the night, as he preferred his evenings to be quiet; allowing him to think. And lately, he had thought a lot more, about all the troubles among his fellow contestants… and something else.

He liked to think that he was one of the most mature contestants- mostly keeping level-headed while everyone else had some sort of issue to work out with people they considered friends or teammates. He didn’t get involved, and usually kept to himself. Sure, it got lonely sometimes, but at least he was satisfied in his ability to be reasonable and mostly honest around others.

Well, except for Pickle.

He had known Pickle ever since the first season of Inanimate Insanity. They were on different teams, and never really talked to each other. He had almost never thought of him beyond the bare knowledge of his existence (almost.)

After OJ won the first season, everyone just lived together in his hotel for a while. There was a point where Knife started playing video games with Pickle; they were just sort of friends, not really having conversations that weren’t about whatever game they were playing. Being as there actually weren’t too many people interested in playing the video games that they both liked, it just worked out to where whenever one of them wanted to play, the other would join.

Although, there were a few times Pickle would talk about Taco. It wasn’t ever in a positive light, but never in a particularly bad light either. Knife just assumed he had a lot of feelings about her that he was sorting out on his own, so he didn’t really care then. He just obliged with throwing the letters she wrote into the fireplace; who doesn’t like having an excuse to throw things into a fire?

Eventually, Mephone4 came back to start the second Inanimate Insanity season. When everyone, including himself, had been chosen for who would compete, he did admit, he was a little sad to see that Pickle hadn’t joined- in all honesty, he was the closest thing he had to a (non-dora-doll) friend at that point.

Despite this, he continued with the season- he competed in all the challenges, he was blackmailed, broke his leg, and his most valued possession and the only thing he considered a friend was destroyed-

Things so far weren’t actually going too well.

In Episode 7, Mephone4 had gone to jail, and with OJ hosting in his place, he had the contestants clean his hotel. This actually meant that everyone had a chance to talk to eliminated competitors or everyone who wasn’t competing- and Knife had planned to go and talk to Pickle, but never really got a chance to besides defending him when Balloon had insulted him.

But… he did feel like after that, it was more important to talk to him, as it was clear his feelings about Taco had only gotten worse.

After cleaning a few windows, Knife saw Pickle playing video games on the couch- alone. There was a picture frame of him and Taco having a picnic next to him, which was even more worrying.

“Mind if I join?” Knife asks.

A chance to at least give him some sort of advice.

“Yeah, sure, I guess… as long as you’re not here to break the controller or whatever.”

Knife instinctually growled a bit. For appearances, because he didn’t want Pickle to see him like that- he didn’t dwell for too long before;

“So, that’s an interesting photo you got there.”

“Yeah, okay.”

He almost felt defeated- why does he care that he’s just brushing him off like this-?

“Augh! I can’t get past this level, I’m done with this.”

Here goes nothing-

“Pickle! You can’t play the game that way. You have to be willing to go back in and try again. Just because you failed once doesn’t mean you’ll fail every time.”

“…wait, what do you mean?”

“You can’t let one bad experience ruin it. Otherwise, you’ll never move on to the next stage.”

It almost feels like he’s talking about himself…

“Wow, that means a lot, Knife. Nobody’s really been there for me lately.”

He hadn’t heard Pickle say his name in so long. His face was a bit hot…

“Um, I was just talking about the video game.”

He wasn’t saying that for the reasons Pickle would probably guess.

“Really?”

“I was! Um, goodbye!”

Although he was actually a bit embarrassed, he walked away, swinging his arms. But he couldn’t stop himself from taking a moment to look back and smile. He didn’t exactly say everything he wanted to, but he was still glad that he could be there for Pickle, and that he got to see him and talk to him after so long. 

After Mephone4 came back, Apple was eliminated, and everything had wound down after the competition, Knife took the evening to think about Pickle.

And here he was, thinking about him and all the chances he had to talk to him, trailing off into when he could see him again, into a small thought that he swore to himself he would repress and deny for the rest of his life-

He just might be a little bit in love with Pickle.

Not even because he’s one of the few people he considers a friend! He’s had plenty of friends over the years, but has never felt this way about any of them. Pickle is just so… cool, and has a great sense of humor, and likes the same games as him, and is always willing to listen and spend time with the people he cares about-

And just his luck, that falling in love contradicts the entire front he had been putting up for years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pickle thinks about Knife, and his life at the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more prolougeyish stuff but it gets much gayer soon i swear

_“You can’t play the game that way. You have to be willing to go back in and try again. Just because you failed once doesn’t mean you’ll fail every time.” ___

____

It had been about a week after Knife had talked to him when OJ was hosting an episode of the new season, and all the eliminated competitors had begun living in the hotel like everyone who wasn't competing. He had just finished playing some of his favorite game and was laying in bed, thinking about Knife.

____

His advice had really helped him- Pickle was getting so hung up on Taco that he wasn't allowing himself to be happy, and live his life. He didn't enjoy being miserable and paranoid that everyone was going to end up using him, even when he knew that wasn't true.

____

There were a lot of things to do and people to become friends with at the hotel- Salt and Pepper were trying to start a fashion club, The Cherries were forming an improv troupe, and OJ had been considering having a formal dance at the hotel. He did say that he would only have it if the competitors still in the game could come, which would be pretty difficult to achieve, requiring Mephone4 and his producer's approval.

____

Besides that, he didn't have an excuse to spend his time off the show moping! It wasn't healthy, and besides, Knife wasn't the only person in the hotel who liked to play video games, too. There was Tissues, who just sneezed all over the controllers and screen, Trophy, who always throws a huge fit whenever he doesn't win, and YinYang, who just argued with himself until he couldn't even play the game anymore.

____

So, admittedly, it had gotten a bit lonely without the two people he had been good friends with as of late.

____

A lot of the people he considered friends were still in the game, OJ and Paper were too busy running the hotel, Salt and Pepper didn't really care about video games or talking to him, and despite being sort of friends with Bomb, he didn't even know where he was half the time. He had also gotten to know the Cherries a bit more, but they were working on making their improv troupe lately (which he was considering joining.) Tissues was just kinda gross, Box was, well, not exactly the best conversationalist, YinYang was just annoying, and Trophy was just really rude and annoying too.

____

On the thought of Trophy, he actually did have a bit more of a reason to hate him now that he was reassured that he and Knife were still friends. He remembered watching Trophy blackmail Knife when watching the early episodes of the new Inanimate Insanity season and just feeling horrible the whole time. He didn't deserve to be treated so horribly just because he really liked a doll. It just made him miss Knife even more.

____

...

____

He really wished Knife was still with him in the hotel.

____

If only he were in Season 2, or if Knife wasn't. The next time he would get to see him would be if he got eliminated, which probably wasn't happening any time soon, after the finale, which was even further away, or if Mephone4 was hauled off to jail, and after going once, that probably wasn't happening again. So instead of "missing" Taco, he was just genuinely missing Knife. Great.

____

Well, it was better than whatever he had been feeling about Taco. She betrayed him, but... he did miss the version of her that spit lemons, and yelled random words like "sour cream" and "salmonella", collected candy with him, and was actually his friend... even if that Taco wasn't real. There was even a point where he thought he loved her, or had been in love with her- but he was sure now that he didn't. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

____

_“You can’t let one bad experience ruin it. Otherwise, you’ll never move on to the next stage.” ___

______ _ _

He could be sure of that because Knife would never betray him.

______ _ _

...

______ _ _

Wait-

______ _ _

Pickle jolted up in his bed and covered his mouth, eyes wide, and his train of thought completely stopped.

______ _ _

"Oh man," he muttered to himself, hands now on his cheeks. He was definitely blushing; he could feel it.

______ _ _

Pickle flopped back onto his bed, hands still pressing onto his face. He sighed and pulled his comforter over himself again.

______ _ _

"I... really miss him..." he whispered to himself.

______ _ _

He wished himself luck getting any sleep that night.

______ _ _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knife goes to hang out with the coolest guy he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this ones really long and just. video gaymes

Knife was spending another night trying to sleep outside instead of in a nice hotel in a comfortable bed. Despite not exactly seeming to be the type, he did enjoy living in at least some kind of comfort. But no, the softest thing he had slept in lately was grass.

With all of this thinking about Pickle, Knife had remembered that in the first season there was a point where he thought Pickle was attractive. When he had his eyepatch on, which he got to see when everyone had snuck off of Idiotic Island. He had thought about him for a little while, but nothing more than an appreciation of his appearance at the time.

And how there was a time between the seasons when Pickle had gotten a small fever, and when Knife went to his room to ask if he wanted to play video games, he couldn't, and he was actually pretty miserable, and just spent the day watching movies and eating microwave quesadillas.

Knife missed him a lot. Too much. It was about nine o' clock at night, nothing was really stopping him from just sneaking into Hotel OJ and going into Pickles room and talking to him for hours besides some rule from Mephone saying he can't.

Hm.

Knife stood up from the grass he was sitting on. He turned and started to walk through the trees and down hillsides, not really thinking of anything besides how to climb the side of a hotel.

Eventually, he approached the hillside next to Hotel OJ. There were a few windows with lights on, contrasting the darkness of the night, most notably a dim light in what he assumed was Pickle's window. Having lived in the hotel for a while, he had an idea of where his room would be.

He jogged down the hill and snuck through the trees near the building. At the side of the hotel, he stood under the windows that led to Pickle's.

As quietly as someone climbing the side of a building could, he hopped onto the bit of outer windowsill on the closest window. He began to climb up, grabbing the sides of each window, until he was dangling from presumably Pickle's.

Using the last bit of strength he had, he tapped on the window, hoping he was right about whose it was.

Suddenly, every part of him that kept him from making impulse decisions filled him with regret and doubt. You don't just climb the side of a building to see someone you're hardly friends with! He should just climb down, what if Pickle doesn't want him there, or what if-

Then, the curtains were pushed to the side, the glass door opened, and there he was.

"Holy shit, Knife?!"

Knife had to laugh at that sudden comment. Well, to be fair, he was dangling outside his window.

"Y-yeah."

"Here, let me help you up,"

Pickle grabbed Knife's arm and pulled him up into his room.

And, to Knife's surprise, Pickle wrapped him in a warm hug.

"What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed in the hotel, right?" Pickle asked, then letting Knife go.

"Yeah, I, um... just wanted to know how you were doing, was all."

Pickle looked at him quizzically. "I'm doing alright, the advice you gave me...um, about the game, has really helped me. Thank you, by the way."

Knife smiled awkwardly and give him a finger-gun. "No problem.”

Pickle smirked and put a hand on his side. "But is that really the only reason you came here?"

Knife processed through a few emotions, probably a bit obviously through his expression. "Well..." His instinct of being nonchalant and not showing his emotions battled against his need to be honest and himself with Pickle.

"I was lonely, and I guess I wanted to hang out with the coolest guy I know." That was almost it.

"Aww, Knife, that's so sweet!" Pickle turned around, and thank god too, because Knife was definitely blushing a bit at that comment.

He grabbed two controllers and handed one to Knife.

Knife grinned, only now noticing the small television in front of Pickle's bed. Pickle went to turn it on, as well as the game console he had on top of it. Knife sat down on the end of his bed as he did so, and Pickle sat next to him. They both kept quiet until they got to the game select screen. Not asking, just making the assumption it would be what they played, Pickle chose the game that he and Knife always used to play together- and the same one that he was playing back when Knife had given him advice.

"So, how's life in the hotel treating you?" Knife asked awkwardly, not exactly knowing what to say, as them starting up the game wasn't too great of a conversation topic.

"It's been alright, I guess. Pretty boring, actually..."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, there's some activities around the hotel, but not many are that appealing to me. Nobody here is much fun to play with video games, either." Despite what he was saying, Pickle started to smile as he continued.

"Oh my god, there was this one time I tried to play with Trophy- he seemed pretty cool at first despite what I had seen on the first few episodes of II," Knife felt a bit surprised; He forgot that everyone in the hotel was watching the show.

"...but after I won in a match against him, he starting yelling about how I cheated, how the game was unfair, and after ranting about the controller being broken, he ripped off the analog stick and ran off."

Knife laughed a bit. "I mean, you can see why I hate him, and why pretty much everyone hates him, right?"

Pickle laughed with him. "Yeah. Must have felt good kicking him into the elimination portal."

"Oh! Hah, yeah! He had it coming, really."

"Yeah! But, yeah, nobody's here who won't break the controller, sneeze on it, or is too busy to play at all."

"Geez, must be glad I'm here, huh?" Knife said, nudging Pickle and grinning.

"Yeah, I am." Pickle replied. And very earnestly too- enough to make Knife's chest feel very warm. He hadn't even realized he had just been smiling at Pickle softly for a few seconds after that. After realizing, he quickly changed the topic.

"So, we should start playing now, right? Since you've got someone to play with now."

Pickle hadn't even realized that they had just talked for a few minutes instead of actually starting the game. "Oh, right." He opened to the save files and went to make a new one, the first being 100% completed.

"Woah, you finished the whole game?!" Knife was honestly impressed- the game wasn't really easy to complete, especially towards the end.

"Yeah, I've, uh, had a lot of free time lately," Pickle said sheepishly.

"Nice! Do you mind beating the whole thing again, then?"

Pickle looked surprised. "You plan on beating the whole thing in one night, sharp guy?" Pickle teased. Knife was a bit embarrassed at being called "sharp guy", but nevertheless he teased back.

"I bet I could, or at least not take a decade to do so like a certain reject cucumber I know..."

He snorted at that. Knife's heart swelled.

"...but actually, I could... uh, come back another night to finish if we don't tonight."

"Yeah, that would be really cool." Knife smiled at that. "But we're gonna have to start soon if you really do plan on finishing this," Pickle teased again.

Knife grinned as Pickle started the new save file.

They spent the whole night playing through the game and catching up with each other. Knife complained how awful this season was for him so far, and talked about how he missed his Dora doll after it was destroyed. Pickle talked about considering joining the Cherries' improv troupe, and made fun of Knife for when he said "knife-eriffic".

"That was so funny and dorky- I really didn't expect that to come from you!"

"Knife just blushed and laughed as well. "I mean, I think there was a point I was trying to come up with a catchphrase?"

"Yeah, yeah, I also remember a no more Mr.Knife-Guy?" That one was really good too."

They both just snickered, barely focusing on the game.

By the time it was one in the morning, they had finished about 25%, which was pretty far for such a long game. Pickle yawned.

“Man, Knife, I'm gonna have to clock out.” Knife, admittedly, was a bit tired as well, but had already decided he would rather talk to Pickle than go back to sleep in a patch of grass. Despite that, he did think it would be best if be left if Pickle wanted to sleep.

"Oh, alright." Knife stood up and began to walk towards the window. "Well, goodnight, and, uh, I'll see you later."

Pickle looked at him, a bit concerned.

"Hey, um, where do you and the contestants usually sleep? Like, tents, or a different hotel or something?"

Knife turned. "...uh, no. I just sleep on a patch of grass near a forest, not entirely sure about everyone else though."

Pickle looked surprised. "Sounds comfortable."

"Well, not really. I've woken up to a mouth full of grass a few times."

Pickle snickered at that. He was being sarcastic, but decided not to correct him. "Would you want to sleep here tonight?"

Knife was visibly very flustered, but tried to play it off as if he was joking. "W...wow, Pickle, we haven't even had our first date yet!"

"No! N-no, I meant, y'know, my bed is pretty big, and it'd be nice not to sleep on the ground right? You could just leave early in the morning and not get caught by MePhone or whatever." Pickle knew he still wasn't phrasing it very well and made a very heroic effort to play it cool, and not look like he was about to collapse of... embarrassment? Something like that.

"Hm... yeah, six hours of sleep on a bed sounds better than what's barely considered sleep at all in the grass."

Pickle went to turn off the television, the game console, and then his lamp. The light of the moon through his window kept it to where they could see where the bed was.

Knife climbed in, and Pickle followed on the other side.

"Ahh, looking forward to not waking up with a face full of grass."

"Here, I'll set my alarm so you can get up early." Pickle picked up an alarm clock that was on his dresser and set it to ring at seven in the morning.

Knife pulled the covers over himself. "Goodnight, Pickle"

"Goodnight, Mr. Knife-Guy."

Knife snickered and closed his eyes to sleep.

They woke up at just before noon.

Pickle woke up first, and upon seeing Knife was a bit startled, but remembered everything from the night before and sighed with relief. He noticed that his arm was interlaced with Knife's, and pulled it away awkwardly.

He panicked again when he turned to was what time it was. "Oh no..."

Knife started to wake up. "Mmf.."

"K-knife, did, uh, the alarm not go off?"

Knife looked confused for a second, then surprised.

"No?"

Getting Knife out of the hotel would be a lot more difficult now.

Knife got out of bed, yawned, and started stretching. "Man, that was the best I've slept in a long time. Thanks, Pickle."

Pickle smiled, despite his worrying. "Of course, no problem. Well, you're gonna have to leave without getting caught now, so uh, I could check to see if the hotel is busy right now."

"Nah, nah." Knife waved his arms in disapproval. "I got it."

Knife walked towards and started to open Pickle's window. "Knife-" Pickle walked towards Knife, and before he could stop him, Knife hugged him tightly.

Knife let him go, grinned, and climbed out of Pickle's window.

Pickle laughed at the suddenness of the situation, but still looked out the window with concern. Knife was climbing down the windows pretty quickly, already almost to the window closest to the ground.

When Knife reached the ground and started to jog away from the hotel, he turned around for a moment to wave to Pickle.

Pickle just smiled and waved back, watching him disappear into the woods. He probably wasn't going to be caught, considering how quickly he left, and that there also wasn't going to be an episode recorded today.

They both had a pretty good night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pickle goes outside the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this ones a bit rough!!

For the past few weeks, Knife had been sneaking into Pickle’s hotel room to play video games with him. Although, they had done other things occasionally, like playing card games, listening to music (and singing badly) together; at that point, they did consider each other best friends.

Pickle sat in his hotel room reading a book called “Improv 101”. He did decide to join the Cherrie’s improv troupe- more so as something to do while he waited for the current season of Inanimate Insanity to be over, rather than a real passion.

He also did feel bad that there weren’t many members, but since Cheesy was eliminated he had joined (without any hesitation at all), so he did feel a bit better. He had also started doing stand up comedy shows at the hotel on Friday nights. Pickle usually went to them, and had even considered recording a show to watch with Knife. Cheesy was actually really funny, as might come as a surprise to everyone who hadn’t been a show.

Suddenly, there was a loud thunk on his window. He assumed it was Knife (albeit knocking a bit louder than usual), so he ran over quickly to open it so he wouldn’t have to dangle for too long. It actually was a bit early for him to come over- the sun hadn’t even set. He didn’t mind though, and continued to open his window.

Surprisingly, Knife wasn’t there when he looked down. Knife, actually standing a few feet from the hotel, laughed at Pickle looking down and reaching as if it were on instinct. He had an armful of rocks and had thrown one at Pickle’s window. He didn’t actually need as many rocks as he had, having a pretty good aim. When Pickle looked up, he dropped the rocks from his arms and gestured for Pickle to come outside with him.

Pickle was pretty confused, as Knife usually always came into the hotel rather than him going outside. Nevertheless, he closed his window and started towards the outside of Hotel OJ.

As he walked through the lobby and to the front door, he was stopped by a voice.

“Where are you headed?”

Startled, he turned. It was just OJ, thankfully. Or rather, unfortunately.

“Oh, hey OJ, I was just…”

He was having trouble thinking of a lie, since he couldn’t exactly tell OJ what he was actually doing.

“…going to watch the sunset!”

OJ looked at him doubtfully. “Yknow you can go on the roof to do that, right?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to see it… around nature.”

Real clever.

“Okay, I guess. Just don’t stay out for too long.” He didn’t sound convinced, but didn’t really seem to care either.

Pickle sighed in relief as he turned around and headed outside where Knife had been.

He didn’t seem to be where he was standing. Then he heard his voice.

“Pickle!”

It came from behind one of the trees near the hotel.

Pickle approached it to find Knife, with a picnic basket, and a blanket behind a nearby shrub.

“Sorry I took a little while, OJ stopped me for a bit- wait, why did you want me to come out here?”

Knife smiled and picked up the basket and blanket. “Have you had dinner yet?”

Pickle started to catch on to what he had planned and grinned. “No, but my dinner has been bagel bites and chips lately, so that’s probably for the best.”

Knife laughed and gestured for Pickle to follow him.

They walked through pine trees and down hills until they reached a secluded area near a cliff. There was a perfect view of the mountains, trees, and a lake below, as well as the sunset.

“Wow…” Pickle marveled.

“Pretty great, huh?” Knife said, putting the basket down and spreading out the blanket.

“Yeah… but anyways, a picnic? What’s the occasion?”

“There’s no occasion- just thought a break from pretty much just video games would be nice.”

Knife paused.

“…and, well, don’t take this the wrong way, but, uh, have you gone outside lately?”

Pickle thought for a moment. “You’re right, about going outside, and this is proof,” he said, gesturing to the view below.

Knife finished spreading out the blanket, and sat down, patting next to him. Pickle sat next to him as he picked up the picnic basket and put it in front of them.

“…Where did you get food?”

Knife looked a bit surprised at the question. He rubbed the back of his blade and replied,

“Uh, y'know how there was the episode when we had to bake pizzas? Well… the kitchens and ingredient dispenser is still there.”

“No way,” Pickle laughed, opening the picnic basket.

There was a pasta salad, two sandwiches, two jars of strawberry lemonade, and a plastic box with two cupcakes in them.

“Woah! Did you do this all on your own?”

“Hah, well, no. I used a cookbook and got some help from Lightbulb with the cupcakes. She helped me in exchange for the other ten cupcakes in the batch.”

“…Please tell me you didn’t need any help with the sandwiches.” Pickle joked, picking up one of the sandwich bags.

“No, no, I know how to make sandwiches, I swear.” Knife laughed.

The scene they had set was very relaxing and sweet- the sunset, the food, the conversation they were having. It was almost like a date.

…which they both realized eventually.

Knife got really worried that what he had done was a really obvious romantic gesture- which he actually didn’t mean to do. He just wanted to do something nice for Pickle. Although, that already had romantic connotations considering that he did have feelings for him.

Pickle didn’t really know if the romantic setting was intentional or not. He was just rolling with everything at this point. He continued talking with Knife, eating the (actually really good) food he had made, and admiring the view.

He did hope that it was on purpose, though. It was almost too romantic not to be intentional. Even the small things, like how they both reached in the picnic basket and their hands touched or how Knife had made a cupcake specifically for him, with green frosting.

Neither of them said anything about it either.

Eventually, the sun had set, and they finished all the food and drinks in the picnic basket.

They had both laid down on the blanket and were staring at the stars.

“…I haven’t done this in so long. Just looked at the stars, y'know?” Pickle said.

“I’ve done it a lot lately. Having to sleep outside and all, I don’t exactly have a say in the matter.”

Pickle laughed.

“Oh yeah, speaking of that, I should probably get back to the hotel. OJ’s gonna be mad if I’m not back soon.”

“…Of course, yeah. I’ll walk you back so you don’t get lost.”

They both stood up and started to walk through the trees, leaving the picnic basket and blanket.

“Now that you’ve got a blanket you won’t have to sleep on the grass, huh?”

“…actually, I was just borrowing it. Still get the luxury of a bed of grass.”

“Dang. Well, you know you can always sleep over with me. Probably not tonight though, I think OJ is already pretty suspicious of me.”

“Huh. Is he strict with Mephone’s rules?”

“Well, not really, considering he let me leave at all. But I wouldn’t put it below him to rat us out if he saw you in the hotel. He does like everything there kept orderly.”

“Hm. Well, since its dark, I can probably walk you until we get to where I was throwing rocks at your window.”

Eventually, they did reach that point. They hugged each other for a good few moments and waved goodbye.

Pickle opened the door to Hotel OJ and heard footsteps coming from the stairs. It was OJ again, and he almost looked… upset?

“Hey OJ, sorry I came back kinda late, I just-”

“Knife?”

Pickle felt his heart drop.

“…what?”

“I saw you and Knife near the hotel from my window.”

Pickle just stared at OJ, shocked.

OJ sighed.

“Y'know what? I don’t mind whatever you’re doing with Knife as long as you don’t get caught by Mephone or disrupt business around the hotel.”

The way OJ was phrased that made him feel a bit warm. What did he… think they were doing?

Pickle just awkwardly walked over to the stairs. “Uh, thanks, and goodnight.”

OJ smiled. “Goodnight.”

Knife returned the blanket and basket he had to Suitcase and headed back to the spot he usually slept.

He laid down and thought about how the night would have gone if he had done something like hold Pickle’s hand, or confess how he felt to him, or…

It was the perfect setting, but… He didn’t even know if Pickle liked guys, or him at all in that way. And Pickle sure as hell didn’t know that Knife did- the former and the latter.

It didn’t matter, he doubted he could lose the entirety of his fake persona enough to be that open and honest with Pickle, no matter how much he wanted to. All he could do was hope for the smallest chance Pickle would say something first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *oj voice* its okay pickle i understand. im gay too
> 
> also *oj voice* I SAW YOU HANGING OUT WITH KNIFE YESTERDAY *pickle voice* OJ ITS NOT WHAT YOU THINK


	5. Chapter 5

"Damnit!" Pickle exclaimed.

Pickle and Soap were playing a fighting game together, and Soap had beat Pickle for the third time in a row. After finding out about her love of video games, Pickle became friends with her through them and now plays with her during the day. Soap was actually pretty good at a lot of games- better than Pickle, at least. It had been nice to have someone to play with outside his room. They had even become good enough friends that Pickle opened up about Knife to her.

Well, not voluntarily at first. She actually caught them hanging out together, but agreed to keep quiet about it.

...He may have also accidentally told her about his massive crush on Knife.

"Hah! I win again!" She exclaimed. "You really weren't kidding when you said you aren't good at fighting games."

"Hey! I'm not good at any games!" Pickle joked.

Soap laughed and put down the controller. "I'm gonna take a quick break, my thumbs are starting to hurt, and we've been playing for hours."

"Fair enough." Pickle picked up the soda he had on the nearby table and started to drink it.

"Soooo... I haven't heard about it in a while; how's it going with you-know-who?"

Pickle stopped drinking and thought for a moment.

"Knife?"

"Oh!"

Not much had really happened. They kept going through the same routine- Knife hangs out in Pickle's room, Pickle sometimes leave the hotel, they have embarrassingly cliche romantic moments that he swears have to mean something, but can never be sure. Same old, same old.

"Well, everything's been going as it always has."

"Hm... Have you thought about opening up to him? About your feelings"

".,.N-No. Well, I've thought about it, but I don't think I'll do it. I mean, I might-"

Soap interrupted him. "Pickle, you should be honest with him. I told you, he won't think of you any different if he doesn't feel the same, and if he does, then that's even better!"

Soap patted him on the back reassuringly.

"You've got nothing to lose, just... listen to your heart."

Pickle sighed.

She was right, really- he doubted Knife would be upset with him, and there were a lot of signs pointing towards him feeling the same.

He was getting tired of thinking he could have told him or done something every time Knife left his room.

"...Yeah, you're probably right. I'm going to try to tell him soon, I guess." Pickle sighed.

"You'll tell me how it goes?"

"I mean, besides OJ technically, you're the only person I can. But, yeah."

Soap smiled. "Well, if you need encouragement, I'm always happy to offer some!"

Pickle smiled back. "Thanks, Soap."

"No problem! Now, let's get back to this game, I'm ready to win for the fourth time in a row!"

 

 

\---

 

 

Knife sat in the forest on top of a rock, hands covering his face and his elbows rested on his knees.

His feelings were becoming unbearable, he just wanted to let all of it out. It was easy to channel his thoughts about the game and everyone's relationships with each other in it, but this was different. It was personal. He hadn't felt this way for anyone in a long time.

Not even just in the romantic sense: he was comfortable being himself around Pickle, and he made him happier than anybody else.

He felt his chest ache and his heart flush when he thought about Pickle- he wanted to give him the world, he wanted to tell him he loved him and that he deserves better than what he's gotten- he wanted to tell him he's handsome and charming and wonderful, and he just wanted to hold him and kiss him, and...

He just wanted to say;

"I'm in love with Pickle!" Knife yelled.

He had gotten so lost in thought that he hadn't realized he had stood up and said that out loud- emphasis on loud.

He practically slapped his hands onto his mouth and started to frantically look around for anyone that could have heard him.

Looking around, it seemed the coast was clear, until he heard some leaves rustling.

Knife turned around to see Lightbulb, peeking out from behind a tree, staring at him.

Knife froze in place, mortified.

"What's up, blade-bro?" She said as she walked out from behind the tree.

...

"...Did- W-why are you out here." Knife stammered.

"I could ask you the same thing! What are you doin' screaming in the woods?" Lightbulb exclaimed.

Knife just stood there, face blank, despite him still panicking on the inside. Did she even hear what he yelled? He started to turn around, just ignoring Lightbulb and hoping she would go away. But then she cleared her throat, and said,

"Pickle?"

Knife froze in place again, and after a moment of considering whether to threaten her or beg for her to not to say a word about it, he just slowly collapsed down onto the grass and started covering his face with his hands again.

Lightbulb hesitated for a moment, but walked next to him, and sat down as well.

"Don't sweat, I'm not gonna tell anyone."

"...Then why don't you just leave?" Knife growled.

"I'd say you were bottling up a lot if it could make someone tough as you scream out your feelings like that."

He kept quiet.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No." Knife snapped.

Lightbulb looked at him quizzically.

He sighed.

"...Fine."

Knife crossed his arms and looked away from Lightbulb. He sighed again, as she just looked at him patiently.

"He's really cool and sweet I guess. I really like him."

He felt awkward telling her this. They weren't even that good of friends.

"I sort of wanna tell him, but it might mess things up."

Lightbulb nodded. "I get what you're saying, that's no fun at all. But ya gotta believe that he's still gonna like you even if he doesn't like-like you. And you can't just keep bottled up forever, y'know?

Knife gave her a look of "are you five years old?", but just turned away again.

"Don't tell anybody." He threatened, pointing his finger at her.

"I gotcha."

Lightbulb stood up and began to leave.

"...Thanks." Knife mumbled.

Knife turned around just enough to see her finger-gun him, and walk backwards into a tree as she did so. Knife just snickered quietly and turned back around. Despite the phrasing of it, Lightbulb   
did have a good point. This was exhausting- he should just say something about it and get it over with.

Begrudgingly, he promised to himself that he would tell Pickle the next time he saw him. Although, that didn't stop him from being scared out of his mind that Pickle wouldn't feel the same, or even worse, be upset with him about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> srry its been a while. gay rights


End file.
